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Women Entrepreneurship Assistance Scheme

Entrepreneurship Assistance
Scheme for Women

Traditionally, women have been amongst the most
disadvantaged sections of our society with regard to access to and control
over resources. Problems faced by them continue to be grave particularly for
illiterate and semi-literate women of rural and urban areas. Apart from
counseling and training, availability of credit poses the most serious
problem for the poor women. In order to alleviate their problems, the
Ministry of Small Scale Industries (SSI) in the Government of India has
launched a scheme titled "Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and
Development" (TREAD) for economic empowerment of women through the
development of their entrepreneurial skills in non-farm activities. The
Office of the Development Commissioner (SSI) in the Ministry of SSI is
responsible for the implementation of this scheme.

2. The three main components of this scheme are
as under:

(i) Assistance in the form of the Government of
India (GoI) grant of up to 30 per cent of the total project cost, as
appraised by the lending agency is provided to the Non Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) for promoting entrepreneurship among target groups of
women. The remaining 70 per cent of the project cost is financed by the
lending agency as loan for undertaking activities as envisaged in the
project. The NGOs can utilise the grant for training, counselling, tie ups
for marketing on behalf of the beneficiaries, etc. besides their own capacity
building for assisting women.

(ii) Selected training institutions and NGOs
conducting training programmes for empowerment of women beneficiaries
identified under this scheme can also avail of GoI grant of up to Rs.1.00
lakh per programme, for imparting training to the women entrepreneurs,
provided such institutions also bring their share of at least 25 per cent of
the grant. However, NGOs except from the North East Region (NER), would be
allowed to conduct training programmes only after they take up some lending
proposals under this scheme.

(iii) Need-based GoI grant upto Rs.5 lakh per
project is provided to National Entrepreneurship Development Institutions
(EDIs) viz. National Institute of Small Industry Extension Training (NISIET),
National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD),
Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), EDIs sponsored by the State
Government, Small Industries Service Institutes (SISIs), and any other
institution of repute primarily for undertaking field surveys, research
studies, evaluation studies, designing of training modules, etc.

3. In
order to implement this scheme, the Ministry of SSI, through the office of
Development Commissioner (SSI) has signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs)
with the Canara Bank, the Syndicate Bank, and the State Bank of India
for mutual co-operation and to promote empowerment of women through setting
up of micro enterprises under this scheme. It is the endeavour of this office
to further expand the coverage of this scheme across the country by involving
more banks as nodal agencies for implementing the TREAD scheme. As a part of
this objective, this office has also requested some more public sector banks
for becoming the nodal agencies for implementing the TREAD scheme.

4. There is a Steering
Committee on TREAD under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary &
Development Commissioner (SSI), which provides an overall guidance for
the promotion and implementation of the Scheme. In addition to
undertaking regular monitoring and review of the implementation of the projects
in consultation with the lending agencies, NGOs, training institutions, and
other stake holders, the Steering Committee also approves the GoI grant to be
released through the lending agency (ies) during its periodic meetings. Based
on the progress made and experiences achieved in the implementation of the
scheme, the Steering Committee is also empowered to revise the eligibility
criteria for the NGOs, structure / design of the scheme and the format for
application to be submitted for availing benefits under the scheme.

7. Eligibility requirement of an NGO
under the TREAD scheme:

(a) Be a legal entity with a minimum
registration of three years.

(b) Having experience in thrift and
saving programmes with Self-Help Groups (SHGs).

(c) Be engaged in income generation
activities for women entrepreneurs.

(d) Have basic infrastructure, qualified
support staff and services to undertake micro-enterprise development for
women.

(e) Prior experience in
preparing project proposals on behalf of women entrepreneurs / women SHGs for
income generation activities and take loan from financial institutions for
onward disbursement to them.

8. Grant assistance for CapacityBuilding
of NGOs :

(a) Training expenses of operating staff
on reducing scale.

(b) Part of the expenses on
operationalsing a management and monitoring system, i.e. computer hardware
and software for MIS and vehicles.

(c) Charges for legal documentation, i.e.
for payment of stamp duty for loan agreements, legal expenses, valuation of
assets, scrutiny and vetting of title deeds, etc.

(g) Legal consultancy and training
expenses for building institutions of the borrowers, i.e. SHGs, Federation,
or Credit Cooperative, etc.

(h) Participation in exhibition and other
marketing events.

10. Procedure for submitting
application for availing GoI :

Applications (in duplicate) in
the prescribed format containing the details of the projects and the profiles
of the applicant beneficiaries may be submitted to the Office of DC(SSI),
Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi - 110011. Application will be subject to preliminary
scrutiny for determining the basic eligibility level. Proposals found to be
in order will be forwarded to the lending agencies for detailed evaluation
and to make recommendations for approval of the total project cost, loan
component and the GoI grant component. However, the GoI grant component will
be subject to the final approval of the Steering Committee on TREAD. The
progress of the project shall be monitored by the lending agency and it shall
be mandatory for all the NGOs and other organizations/ agencies receiving
grant under this scheme to submit the Utilisation Certificate in respect of
the GoI grant.

Format of Application for availing
benefits under the TREAD scheme is provided in the Annexure.

ANNEXURE

OFFICE OF THE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSIONER(SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES) MINISTRY OF SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

iii) Name and Designation of Chief
Functionary, address with contact details,

iv) Names of other key functionaries,
their addresses and contact details

v) Registration No. &Date

(Enclose a copy of the Registration
Certificate)

vi) Main objectives as given in
Bye-laws

vii) Whether provision is there in
Bye-laws to undertake borrowing and lending activities - Y/N

(Enclose a copy of the Bye laws)

viii) Copies of audited balance sheet
for preceding last 3 years

ix) Copy of latest
Annual Report

2. ORGANISATIONAL SET UP

i) Office Staff (No.)

ii) Field Staff (No.)

iii) Supervisory Staff

3. MAJOR PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED & FUNDS
RECEIVED DURING LAST 3 YEARS (RS. LAKH)

Year

Grant Received

Loan Received

Amount

Organisation Form

Purpose

Organisation from

Amount Received

Amount Recovered

Purpose

4. DETAILS OF PRESENT PROJECT PROPOSALS

i) Objectives of the project

ii) Proposed income generating
activities

iii) Place of implementation of the
project

iv) No. of beneficiaries of the project

v) Proposed means of Finance of Project
Cost

(Give all the details
on separate sheets)

5. PROPOSED FUNDING & AMOUNT OF GoI GRANT
SOUGHT UNDER EACH ACTIVITY OF THE PROJECT

Name of Activity

No. of borrowers

Average loan amount per borrower (Rs.
lakh)

Total loan required (Rs.lakh)

Average GoI amount per borrower (Rs.
lakh)

Total GoI required (Rs.lakh)

6. EXPECTED LEVEL OF BENEFIT AFTER COMPLETION
OF THE PROJECT INCLUDING ANTICIPATED MONTHLY INCREASE IN INCOME OF THE
BORROWERS/BENEFICIARY WOMEN

(Give a write up with projected
details)

7. PROPOSED REPAYMENT SCHEDULE

(Enclose repayment schedule statement)

8. Please indicate the Bank through which the
proposed loan is to be raised :

Canara Bank/ Syndicate Bank/ State Bank
of India

Declaration :

I hereby certify that
the above information furnished by me is correct. I undertake to use the
Government of India
grant component and the loan component received from lending agencies for the
intended purpose of empowerment of women beneficiaries for their
self-employment through non-farm activities as proposed above. I also
undertake to sincerely monitor the utilisation of assistance under the
scheme. I promise to repay the loan component as per the repayment schedule
proposed above or the same as fixed by mutual understanding of the
undersigned and the lending institution. In case of the failure of the
project I promise to refund both the GoI grant and the loan amount received
under the scheme. Further I may also be liable for penal action under the law
of land for any false declaration.